How can you not have a great day at Lourdes? The weather has cooperated magnificently. After Mass in St. Ann’Chapel and a guided tour through the Lourdes’ Museum, everyone had free time today to again explore, pray at the very shrines and churches, go into the baths, shop and more.
In the afternoon we went to the medical bureau and toured the museum there and saw all the different people that had confirmed cures from the waters here at Lourdes. We also had a meeting with the chief doctor.
Protestants have a lot of objections to Catholic teachings on Mary. So for an hour before dinner I, Steve Ray, gave a talk on Objections to Mary and How to Refute Them. I thought it was appropriate since we had spent so much time at Marian Shrines and talking and praying the Rosary.

Our dinner, farewells, comments and final hours will be put up tomorrow.

After a tour of the beautiful Catholic city of Burgos Spain we drove through the lovely countryside filled with fields of wheat and sunflowers. We went up into the mountains in the Basque country and stopped at the shrine and Loyola. This was a delightful surprise for everyone with the beautiful Jesuit church, visiting the [...]

Have you ever seen a three foot high, 150 pound incensor in a church that takes 8 men to operate? Today we had front row seats for the morning Mass at the Cathedral in Santiago with Msgr. Droll concelebrating. You won’t believe this “botafumeiro” that flew over our heads at the speed of a rocket. [...]

What a mass of people! The Spanish people know how to celebrate and coming to Santiago de Compostela on the feast day of their primary saint, St. James the Greater, is quite an experience! By the way, this is the St. James who was called by Jesus on the shores of Galilee. We started with [...]

This morning we left Fatima early and drove north through the beautiful countryside of Portugal. We stopped at Coimbra for Mass at the Carmelite Monastery where Sister Lucia lived for 57 years. We also visited the museum of her life which was very interesting especially having just been to Fatima. From there we drove north [...]

walking in all the paths of the three children: Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta – biting their homes, their church the apparition sites, the miracles and also their tombs. Free time to pray and as the sun set we gathered with many from around the world for the Rosary in many languages and the candlelight procession. [...]

All the pilgrims arrived safely and in good shape. We boarded the bus and took a marvelous tour of Lisbon Portugal which is a beautiful and historic Catholic city. My favorite thing was a huge statue of Christ the King. After an authentic Potugese lunch on the waterfront we went to see a Eucharistic miracle in [...]

Join Fr. Larry Richards and Steve Ray for our Seminar at Sea in the Footprints of St. Paul, St. John and Mary on a Mediterranean cruise. We voyage through Rome, Italy, Corinth, Athens, Thessaloniki, Philippi, Istanbul, Pergamum, Ephesus and Patmos. See our itinerary here: Call for more info or to register, call Susan Reinhardt [...]

“Pilgrimage is a symbol of life”, says Pope Francis. “It makes us think of life as walking, as a path. If a person does not walk, but instead stays still, this is not useful; it accomplishes nothing. Think of water: when water is not in the river, it does not course, but instead it remains [...]

We are flying to Israel today and wanted to let you know of an exciting new trip we added to our list. There are lots of people who have visited the Holy Land and seen the regular sites in Nazareth, Cana, Jerusalem and more. BUT do you know that this biblical land is full of [...]

What a great day with great weather, great folks and great sites. Growing closer to Jesus Christ and his Church is the whole point. Enjoy! FR. COURTNEY’S FAREWELL HOMILY AT THE CHURCH OF ST. AGOSTINO (AUGUSTINE)

I have provided two short 6 minute video clips of me (Steve Ray) and Liz Lev as we talked to my group in the Ancient Rome Forum today. First, Liz spoke about the clash of empires: the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. The key line is this: Rome had just claimed that the [...]